


Like a Dog with a Bone

by mezzo_cammin



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-17
Updated: 2013-06-17
Packaged: 2017-12-15 07:17:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/846820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzo_cammin/pseuds/mezzo_cammin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andrew Shaw notices something weird going on with Kane and Toews, and he can't rest until he figures it out.  Because that's just how he rolls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Dog with a Bone

It’s not all that unusual for the players to watch each other being interviewed after games. It helps to know what the C is saying, what the other players are asked about, because the reporters have this sneaky way of giving you a random quote and asking you to comment on it, and if you weren’t watching, you wouldn’t know if your teammate said it jokingly or, like, in all seriousness. So, yeah, they go quietly about their business and they keep an ear out for the media scrum. It’s just. Andy hadn’t really noticed how intently Kaner’s been watching Tazer’s interviews until he sidles over to him after this one game and starts asking him a legit question about a play, and Kaner fucking _shushes_ him. 

Kaner’s watching Tazer’s interview like maybe it’s the most important interview ever, and Andy turns around to see what the fuck is so special about it. And there’s nothing out of the ordinary. At all. Not one damn thing. Toews has stripped down to his T and shorts, and he’s got his cap on and his head down a little, like he’s giving his answer a lot of thought or something. He’s taking questions about the playoffs, about who they might face, and he’s wiping the sweat off his face, pulling on his ear, and then Kaner’s shoving Andy in the shoulder and saying, “Okay, Shawzy – what the hell’d you want, man?” and Andy can’t quite put his finger on it, but Kaner’s different. Like – happy or something. It’s weird.

And really, he wouldn’t have given it another thought, but he’s practicing face-offs with Saad during morning skate the next day, and Kaner and Tazer are off to the side talking to Coach with their heads together, and he sees Johnny put a hand on the back of Kaner’s neck, all casual-like, and Kaner doesn’t move away or shrug him off, and okay, what the hell? Because Andy did that to him once, just horsing around, and Kaner almost broke his fingers in some crazy ninja move and then got all flustered and mumbled something about his neck being ticklish or sensitive or some other shit. Which, now that he thinks about it, is a whole other level of weirdness, even for Kaner, especially since he doesn’t even seem to notice that Tazer is, like, stroking his neck as they lean over the white board where Coach is sketching out a play. Huh.

Man-Child elbows him then, and Andy blinks and brings his attention back to practice, but now he’s got this weird idea in the back of his mind, and he knows it’s stupid, but it won’t leave him alone. It fucking niggles. Andy hates when that happens. 

He doesn’t say anything to anyone, just decides to pay more attention the next time the media is in the locker room. Sure enough, he notices it when Kaner’s being interviewed, right beside him. Across the room, Tazer’s finished with his media chat already, and he’s got all his gear off, ready for his shower, but he stands in front of his locker, downing a Gatorade, and he never once takes his fucking eyes off of Kane. So Andy turns to watch Kaner, too, and he actually sees when it happens this time. Kaner is grinning up at the reporter, talking shit, but then he gets this serious look on his face, and he runs a finger over his eyebrow, looks down, tugs at his ear, and then finishes his thought. Andy glances back to Tazer’s locker and all he sees is Tazer’s back as he heads to the showers.

It’s totally OCD of him, he knows, but Andy can’t help it. It’s just how he is. Like a dog with a bone, his mom always said. An hour later, he’s back in his apartment, pulling up the Blackhawks website and trolling through all the interviews with Kaner and Tazer, and he can’t believe he’s doing this, seriously, but what the actual fuck is going on with those two? It’s like – like a third base coach sending signals to the batter and the guy on first. There’s the ear-pull, the wipe-the-brow, the chin-tap, the fingers on the neck, and ha, he fucking knew it! Ticklish, my ass. But Andy still doesn’t _get it_ , doesn’t know the _code_ , and it’s going to drive him nuts until he breaks it, he knows it is, damn it.

He buys a little notebook, the kind that fits into your pocket, and starts writing shit down.

He notices two things right away, even though they’re both pretty subtle about it. If Kaner hadn’t shushed him that one time, Andy doubts he’d ever have caught on. One, the ear-pull usually means Kaner and Tazer come into practice together the next day. Two, the touch-the-neck signal, sometimes combined with the ear-pull, means they’re both in really great moods for a couple days afterwards, and that Tazer’s kind of extra handsy with Kaner, who still doesn’t even seem to _notice_ , and-- wait a damn minute. Are they hooking up? 

Andy takes a second to think about that, and then shrugs. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. But why not just text each other? And then Andy remembers what happened when one of the Capitals players lost his phone at a bar and all his texts and private tweets were basically held for ransom until the team lawyers stepped in and made that little scandal go away. The guys heard about it through the grapevine, though, and Toews even gave a special little speech about keeping things clean and/or never, ever, losing your phone, so yeah, Andy can see why they don’t want to risk it. Plus, you never know when a microphone might be on, so it’s probably not safe to say anything, either. Still. If he’s right, and Andy’s pretty sure he is, this is the kind of dorky BFF secret-signal-having thing he’d expect from a couple of middle school kids, not his supposedly grown-up teammates. Oh, wait. 

He works out that the chin-tap, either once or twice, probably tells them whose place they’re going to. He’s not going to follow them home, though, because that would be way too stalker-y, but yeah, he’s pretty sure that’s the signal for where. So now he’s got the go-ahead signal and the where signal, and he figures it’s just a matter of time before he figures out the scratching-the-beard signal. That one’s been giving him fits, because there’s just no _pattern_ to it. 

He taps his pen against the question mark beside it and then underlines it.

“It just really itches,” Tazer says from behind him, and Andy jumps about a foot, sending his little notebook flying in the air. It lands in his locker, and Andy leaves it there and turns around, dread pooling in his stomach at the way Tazer is just standing there, staring at him, arms folded, head cocked to the side, with no expression on his face whatsoever. The air in the locker room seems to have dropped about 10 degrees, and Andy tries to swallow, but all the spit in his mouth seems to have dried up. He’d been the first one in today, the only one there so far, and he’d been so absorbed in breaking their code he hadn’t heard Tazer come in. Fuck.

“Uh,” Andy says, and then runs out of words. Tazer just keeps staring at him, waiting.

“So, um,” Andy tries again, and then just shrugs helplessly.

“Is this going to be a problem, Andy?” Tazer asks, his voice deep and stern, only it sort of breaks at the end, like it does when he's trying to hold his emotions in check. Andy can’t remember the last time Tazer called him by his given name, and that just makes it so much worse, somehow. Andy’s shaking his head so fast that he gets a little dizzy.

“No! Absolutely not! No problem at _all_. I mean, it’s fine. Good. _Seriously_ ,” he rambles on, wishing Tazer would just go ahead and put him out of his misery, but instead, he just stands there, gazing steadily at him, like he’s trying to see inside Andy’s mind, his soul, even, with those dark eyes of his. Andy turns around and grabs the notebook out of his locker, starts to tear out the pages, shredding them into little bitty pieces, and when he looks up, Tazer’s face has softened and his lips are quirking up into a rueful smile.

“So, um – what tipped you off, Mutt?” Tazer asks, finally, and Andy just reaches up and tugs his ear.

Tazer’s still chuckling when Kaner comes in and gives them a questioning look, but Tazer just grabs him around the neck and hauls him towards the showers. Kaner's protesting the whole way that he’s already had his shower, thanks, and what the hell, Johnny? 

And then there’s silence, and Andy leans back against his locker and grins. He bets that Kaner will be the one touching his neck during his interview, later.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by these gifs... 
> 
>  
> 
> [Tazer](http://sheercompulsion.tumblr.com/post/51534801471)
> 
>  
> 
> And 
> 
>  
> 
> [Kaner](http://getreallycomf.tumblr.com/post/52252273423)
> 
>  
> 
> And
> 
>  
> 
> [ More Tazer](http://patricksharpie.tumblr.com/post/43274122962)
> 
>  
> 
> And one more
> 
>  
> 
> [ More Kaner](http://getreallycomf.tumblr.com/post/50612691156)
> 
> Also - I could use a beta? If anyone is interested? :)


End file.
